I have designed close to 50 or more Haile Selassie t shirts so far, and I have learned many things about King Selassie as well as many spiritual lessons in life which have been very beneficial to me so I am going to share them with you in this blog post. When I first thought about blogging Haile Selassie t shirts, I considered what to write about. If you want to learn about Haile Selassie, all you have to do is go to Wikipedia or thousands of other resources, and they’ll teach you about when he was born, how he was raised, how he became the king of Ethiopia, and so forth. But I realized the need to differentiate this blog to thousands of other articles that talk about his life or his legacy. Obviously, I’m going to have to talk a little bit about his legacy in order to make connections with spiritual lessons I learned from this great man.

Reflections on Haile Selassie, Christ Consciousness, and Rastafarian Culture

We all know that in Rastafarian culture, they revere Haile Selassie as a God, sort of like the second coming of Christ in Christian philosophy. If you ask me whether Haile Selassie was a God, that is a subject matter that deserves another entire blog post. But simply put, I do not think he was a God. Why? It is because of my own understanding of what Christ Consciousness is. Christ Consciousness has nothing to do with third-party persons we are supposed to revere as Gods but rather it is something that is within all of us.

Even in the Bible, which has been rewritten probably more than thousands of times, has said that Christ is coming back. It didn’t say Jesus was coming back. And when I say Jesus, I don’t mean Jesus. What I really mean to say is Yeshua, because that was his real name. The letter J was invented, according to mainstream history, in the 16th century. Before that, the letter J wasn’t even used. So this letter or word was invented in the 16th century, thereby erasing the real person who was able to do miracles such as turning water into wine, splitting the ocean in half, and more. Now, if you ask me, was there a person named Yeshua who was able to do these incredible things? I would have to say yes.

I know that I went on a tangent talking about Christ Consciousness when this blog post is supposed to be about Haile Selassie t shirts. But I think it’s okay to give a little background on what I personally think about Selassie as a religious figure because so many people believe that he is God. Just because I don’t believe he is a God, does that mean that I don’t respect him? Absolutely not. In fact, I respect him a lot. Probably more than any other person in the last hundred years or so because he represented more than himself. He was a small guy fighting against the establishment who came out on top. What’s there not to like about him?

Exploring Christ Consciousness, Respect for Haile Selassie, and Creative Ventures

As explained earlier, I have different thoughts about Christ Consciousness. It’s a Consciousness, not a person, not a third party, but something that is within you because the Kingdom of Heaven is within you, not outside of you. Because of this fact, whatever you imagine and feel with your emotions, you create externally. I also would like to note that my intent here is not to disrespect any Rastafarians because I know that at the core of their belief, they believe that Haile Selassie was the second coming of Christ. I’d also like to note that it was Haile Selassie who mentioned himself that he was not a God. He was a great person and did many great things for the Rastafarians, such as laying the groundwork for African Americans to come back to Africa as well as giving them future and hope. And in that regard, he was such a great man. So it is obvious that Haile Selassie was more than a king. He was a spiritual figure who motivated others, which many people looked up to.

Haile Selassie’s Empowering Messages of Resilience and Unity

So what am I trying to convey whenever I’m designing Haile Selassie t shirts? What do I want people to feel when they wear my brand with Haile Selassie as the backdrop? Well, I think the message is that you could be David, and I’m going to use a biblical analogy right now, fighting against Goliath, who is 20 times or maybe even 30 times bigger and still win. And I believe this was a true story that existed back in the days. You can even see Giants today, who are 7’8”, 7’9”, almost 8 ft tall but they are not called giants. They are called basketball players now. Haile Selassie represented what you could be. David fighting Goliath and winning as long as you are using Christ Consciousness, meaning if you’re able to combine your brain, your thought, your imagination, and your emotions into one with a heart that is loving, full of compassion, and living for others, you could move mountains if you say ‘move mountain.’ This is even mentioned in the Gospel of Thomas, which was erased by the Council of Nicea, the editors of the Bible. But this story was part of the Nag Hammadi, which is slowly coming out to the surface now.

Lessons from Designing Haile Selassie T Shirts

I’m Asian, and if you are African-American or a Rastafarian from Jamaica, you may think that I am not genuine. You may think I have no connections whatsoever, so I shouldn’t even produce these Haile Selassie t shirts. In fact, I’ve had people from Jamaica email me or call me, and complain that I am misappropriating their culture for my own benefit. But on a personal level, I think I’ve gained so much since when I first started designing Rastafarian clothing compared to now in terms of maturity, life experience, and most importantly, how to handle difficult situations, just like David facing Goliath in biblical terms. And I am sharing those lessons with you now so I am giving back to the community.

If you’ve read about Haile Selassie, you know that he went through a lot himself too. There are many anecdotes about his life as a king, but what stands out to me the most is that he had to defend against powerful Fascist Italy and won. At that time, it was the brutal Mussolini and his fascist government that were in charge, doing whatever they could to pillage other people who were less fortunate or who were more innocent and believed the foreigners as their own brothers and sisters. In the end, he was backstabbed by the people, namely the Europeans, whom he trusted. I believe he was murdered. After that, Ethiopia became a devastatingly poor country for many, many years, even now. But while he was king, he was able to successfully defend against imperialist powers with his own citizens.

Haile Selassie T Shirts and the Message of Resilience

I consider myself a spiritual person, and one of my gifts is that I could read people’s energies. It’s easier to read energies of people when I’m near them in person, but I can also read people’s energies through photographs. It’s the demeanor, it’s the aura, it’s the vibration and the frequency that they emit through photos, and I can read that very well. When I look at Selassie, I can tell that he was not a greedy person, and he sincerely wanted his country Ethiopia to do well. I could also sense that he wasn’t controlled by secret societies or groups that wanted to take advantage of him, which is probably the reason why he was murdered by his own people. When I say “his own people,” I don’t mean literally his own people, but rather people who are controlling them with assets, wealth, and money, convincing them that killing Selassie was the best decision for them. We all know that wasn’t the case because if you look at Ethiopia in the last 50 years, they have been living in total destitution.

This is not a well-known fact, but Africa as a continent is one of the wealthiest continents in the world. They basically have unlimited resources. But all the resources never went to its own people. The Western powers raped and pillaged everything for their own benefit. And even now, they are doing the same. The benefits don’t go to the Africans, but rather it comes back to the Westerners who control the world.

Inspiring Change by Harnessing Haile Selassie’s Spirit

I realize that there are some things I can change and some that I cannot change. What I can change is myself, my thoughts, my mind. But externally, what’s happening in the world, I cannot change. And the rape of the African continent is something that I cannot change. But what I can do is to learn about the spirit aspects of Haile Selassie, what he represented as a person, and translate that into graphic arts, t-shirts, and clothing that people could wear and feel the energy, the energy of standing up to unfairness, injustice, and eventually succeeding. So, in this regard, I believe Selassie has tremendous appeal, especially for the poor, for the persecuted, for the people who are facing injustice. And Selassie represents more than just himself. He was a figure that we could all look up to and give us a sense of hope.

Symbolism, Hope, and Resilience in Haile Selassie Designs

Lastly, as a king, it’s easy to abuse your powers and fall into many temptations. You get to eat as much food as you want, you can have any woman you want. But when you look back on Selassie’s life, he was a very skinny guy which shows that he was really careful about his diet probably a lot of vegetables. He knew the power behind food and what it does to people when you overconsume. This probably helped him tremendously to stay in tune within himself, with his mind, with his brain, which enabled him to listen to his inner voice rather than outside influences. Even though towards the end of his political career, the Western powers surrounded him with all their assets, to force their will upon him, he nonetheless maintained his integrity and never gave away his power.

Conclusion

When you visit Fifth Degree’s website or our Etsy shop and see the Haile Selassie t shirts that we have created, I hope you don’t think that they’re just another ordinary t-shirt. Instead, I want you to think that these t-shirts represent hope, the fight against injustice, David fighting Goliath, and overcoming all odds. Through this blog, I hope that Rastafarians who may think that I have no standing to produce such designs will understand where I’m coming from, understand my story, and how designing many Haile Selassie clothing forced me to study him and know him better than many people out there. This has enhanced my life and has given me hope. It has given me the power to fight through the struggle. And I hope you too will feel the same emotions that I feel whenever I come across a Haile Selassie t shirt we have designed. I hope this blog post brought a positive change to your life. Remember, when you wear Fifth Degree, you are showing people that you understand history, and that you’re part of something special, that you are on the side of justice and will eventually come out on top of it all.

Fifth Degree™ Haile Selassie Ethiopian Jah Army Shirt RasTafari Jah Son of Africa Black History Rasta Got Soul

You’ve now found the staple t-shirt of your wardrobe. It’s made of 100% ring-spun cotton and is soft and comfy. The double stitching on the neckline and sleeves add more durability to what is sure to be a favorite!

• 100% ring-spun cotton
• Sport Grey is 90% ring-spun cotton, 10% polyester
• Dark Heather is 65% polyester, 35% cotton
• 4.5 oz/yd² (153 g/m²)
• Shoulder-to-shoulder taping
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